Sonya Karels grew up in southwest Minnesota and started performing at a young age. She started dancing at age three and began performing in school and community productions soon after.

After graduating high school in 2010 she moved to Los Angeles and attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy to study Musical Theatre. ​She studied there for two semesters and then moved back to Minnesota to perform.

Sonya now lives in Los Angeles and is pursuing a performance and writing career.

In high school Sonya found her calling as an actor while competing in Speech and performing in high school and community theatre.

A year later she made the move out to New York to continue her education at AMDA. She graduated in February of 2015 from the Musical Theatre program.